Saturday 14 February 2015

JANUARY 2015 - READING LIST AND PICK OF THE MONTH




A great start to the reading year, 2 x 5 star reads, 6 x 4, a 3 and a disappointing 2.

All but one were fairly recent publications with the obvious exception of the 100 year old Sax Rohmer book.

4 of the 10 were new to me.

Garnier with his second 5 star book is developing into one of my new favourites.


Brazill and Austin (Brewer) kick-ass and tick a lot of boxes, scratch a lot of itches and generally serve up some fast-paced action, with plenty of laughs and licks and head-shaking along the way.

Brian Stoddart's second Le Fanu book maintained the high standard of his first.....I'll be looking forward to future visits to explore the last days of the British Raj in India.
Jerry Ludwig

Terry Shames with Samuel Craddock and E. Michael Helms and his ex-marine, Mac McClellan continue to entertain with crime and high jinks in small town Texas and on the Florida coastline.

Jochem Vandersteen - a Dutch crime writer served up some entertaining crime on American soil.

Pick of the month - Jerry Ludwig and his Blacklist - a 6 star read of an extremely interesting period in America's fairly recent (past 60 years then) history! (Ok - 5 star plus)

The full month.......

Pascal Garnier - The Islanders (2014) (5)

Paul D. Brazill - Guns of Brixton (2013/14) (4)

Max Austin - Duke City Hit (2014) (4)

Brian Stoddart - The Pallampur Predicament (2014) (4)

Sax Rohmer - The Yellow Claw (1915) (2)

Laura Antoniou - The Killer Wore Leather (2013) (3)

Jerry Ludwig - Blacklist (2014) (5)

Terry Shames - Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek (2014) (4)

E. Michael Helms - Deadly Ruse (2014) (4)

Jochem Vandersteen - Scoundrel (2012) (4)

8 comments:

  1. Col - Glad that you had a good reading month. And not in the least surprised that a Garnier topped your list. He really was very talented, and a able to tell a very good story in relatively few pages.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Margot. Fortunately I have a few more Garnier's on the pile!

      Delete
    2. This year, I am trying to get myself acquainted with one new mystery author every month. This aforementioned list will be of immense help.

      Delete
    3. That's a great goal - good luck with it!

      Delete
  2. Col, Paul D. Brazill and Brian Stoddart are my pick of your impressive list. I hope to read their work this year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm glad you didn't rush into choosing the January book of the month! 6*, or even 5*+, is very impressive, I definitely need to read Blacklist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think BLACKLIST would definitely be a book where our tastes coincide. Possibly Garnier too....

      Delete